Manufactured Homes: The Key to Unlocking Affordable Housing?

There is an affordability crisis in the U.S. housing market, due in part to a shortage of 4 to 7 million homes, with smaller homes particularly hard to come by. The housing crisis is compounded by onerous zoning restrictions and tighter lending standards post-Great Recession that have made it more difficult for homeowners to obtain a mortgage. Rising mortgage interest rates have also been a factor in recent years, although they are slowly coming down.^[1] Builders can help to overcome this crisis by constructing homes with factory-built components that are easier and less expensive to assemble.

The overarching term “offsite construction” encompasses:

Whether a panelized, modular, or manufactured home, it can be constructed quickly and in almost any location a builder wants to build. Interestingly, this is also a selling point for propane, which can be used in manufactured housing for cooking, space heating, water heating, clothes drying, and fireplaces, among other applications. Propane infrastructure is independent of municipal natural gas infrastructure so can be used in nearly any location a manufactured home will be constructed.

Project Highlight: International Builders’ Show Modular Home Can Go Anywhere with Propane
Genesis Homes, a firm specializing in off-site home building solutions, constructed a modular home for the 2024 NAHB International Builders’ Show Outdoor Village. The 1,600-square-foot, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom modular home was constructed in only 9 days and is listed at $153K, a very affordable price point for a 3/2 home. While the price does not include property, the predictable building cost of manufactured housing makes it easier for builders and homeowners to budget, independent of project location.

Thanks to propane, this Propane Education & Research Council-sponsored home can also take advantage of gas appliances no matter where in the country it’s built. The modular home at IBS features numerous propane-powered appliances, including the furnace, tankless water heater, outdoor fire table, range, and dryer. The home has dual-fuel heating with an electric heat pump and a propane-powered furnace, with the heat pump active when the temperature is above 30 degrees. Once temperatures drop below 30 degrees, the heat pump is less efficient, so the propane-powered furnace kicks on to warm the home. The propane tankless water heater is sized for the number of bathrooms in the home and the number of hot water-utilizing appliances, providing an endless supply of hot water. The tankless unit does not have to hold hot water like a traditional tank-style water heater and only heats it when it’s called for, a much more efficient process.

Another significant benefit of using propane over natural gas and electricity is that builders don’t have to wait for utility companies to hook up services or install infrastructure. The modular home is manufactured offsite while sitework is completed and propane tanks are ordered. When the house is delivered, the plumber can easily hook up to the propane system, whether it’s above-ground, underground, or a community propane system. Faster construction and occupancy results in additional cost savings that can be passed onto the homeowner.

Watch this video to see designer and developer Anthony Carrino tour the home and show how builders can use propane to meet all their energy needs no matter where they are located.

Benefits of Manufactured Housing
Manufactured housing has come a long way in recent years, and is almost indistinguishable from a typical single-family home. Floor plans are customizable, and they have amenities comparable to site-built homes. Manufactured homes are built in a climate-controlled environment by a consistent workforce of highly skilled craftsmen, which increases production efficiency and results in significantly lower costs:^[2]

Manufactured housing is the largest form of unsubsidized affordable housing in the U.S. and the only type of housing built to federal construction and safety standards (the HUD code). Because of the consistency of meeting this one code, they can be made at scale, bringing down the cost of supplies and production, and possibly local permitting.^[3]

“This single code has enabled manufacturers to ship homes easily across interstate lines and achieve economies of scale that have brought high quality affordable homes to millions of families.”   – Manufactured Housing Institute

Manufactured Homes and Propane Improve Affordability and Access to Housing
When propane appliances and amenities are installed in manufactured homes, the benefit is two-fold for homeowners. It not only allows them to make a smart housing decision financially, but they will be fueling their household appliances with a product that lowers their total cost of home ownership. Propane is energy efficient and an economical method of heating a home, which lowers monthly utility bills. It’s also a reliable source of power for heating and cooking, as it’s independent of the electric grid. Propane furnaces produce more comfortable, consistent heat with fewer emissions than electric furnaces, while tankless water heaters provide on-demand hot water throughout the residence. With propane appliances, manufactured and modular home builders can offer clients affordability, versatility, and reliability.

 Learn more about propane and manufactured housing.

^[1]Housing experts say there just aren’t enough homes in the U.S. : NPR

^[2]About Manufactured Homes – MHI (manufacturedhousing.org)

^[3]Meet the new generation of manufactured houses : NPR